One O’Clock Lab Band
University of North Texas, 2019, CD
Instrument: Instrumental
Issue: 26.1
Jazz Ruler Type: BigBand
Performance: 4
Sound: 3
Score: 87
O’s Notes: The powerful, brassy One O’clock Lab Band has become one of our favorite large ensembles and certainly among the best of the college bands. Even with a continuously evolving student body at the University of North Texas, the band remains true under the direction of Alan Blaylock. They play freshly arranged classics with changes in key and tempo, but always exacting precision. There are rich, melodic solos on “Red Herring” (Patrick Hill, a-sax and Andrew Duncan, b-sax) and “Leverage” (Kyle Meyers, a-sax and Ethan Ditthardt, g) with sweet vocals by Marion Powers on “The Things We Did Last Summer”. We also enjoyed the mysterious sounds of “Confluence” and the crisp accents on “I Can’t Get Started”.
Publicist: Terri Hinte